CEJ #5
Egypt hot-air balloon accident kills 19
Logan Urfer
2/26/2013
On february 26,2013, a hot-air balloon had crashed in Egypt near the city of Luxor. While in the air, the balloon had burst into flames. A local farmer had watched this event occur, he said that he had saw 19 people jump out of the balloon in panic, while 1000ft in the sky, and fall to their deaths. One British tourist had survived, as well as the Egyptian tour guide, but had suffered horrible burns in the process. The city of Luxor has suffered since this tragic accident occurred. Luxor is practically a ghost town. Tourists are leaving out of fright. The article described it as “Luxor is filled with vacant hotel rooms and empty cruise ships”. Some of the authorities are saying that the death of these 19 people were the pilots fault, as he did not do what he was trained for in these certain situations. The cause of the fire was that a cable got caught around a helium tube, and a fire erupted. All hot-air balloon are temporarily suspended for further investigation.
This is obviously an extremely tragic accident, and I wonder what it was like for the people in the balloon. What they must have been thinking when the hot-air balloon had erupted into flames. Only 2 people survived the accident, the Egyptian guide and a british tourist, what are the odds of that? The article did not say if they had chosen to stay in the aircraft or jump like the rest of the passengers did, but all i know is, that they are extremely lucky. I think that the tourists should not run away, they should just stay and enjoy their time, I fully doubt that another accident like that will happen anytime soon. I also dont think that it is the pilot's fault, what was he supposed to do? I think that they are just looking for someone to blame. But, what I don't fully understand is, why did they jump from the hot-air balloon? Wouldn't it be any easier to just stay in the passenger area?
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